Keanu was ‘blacklisted’ for turning down role

KEANU Reeves says he was once blacklisted by the Fox studio for turning down a film role.

The actor sat down with GQ for its May issue and recalled being put in ‘movie jail’ when he turned down Speed 2 after the first instalment in 1994 became a box office hit.

Reeves, pictured, explained that he turned down the follow-up to feature in a stage production of Hamlet in Winnipeg, Canada.

‘I didn’t work with [Fox] again until The Day The Earth Stood Still,’ the 54-year-old recalled of being hired by the studio in 2008.

Fox ended up producing its sequel, Speed 2: Cruise Control, in 1997, with Jason Patric starring opposite Sandra Bullock.

Reeves explains he hasn’t done a studio movie since 47 Ronin in 2013, which didn’t do so well in theatres.

When it comes to the John Wick franchise, however, Reeves says he will keep making more as long as the demand is there.

‘As far as my legs can take me,’ he told GQ. ‘As far as the audience wants to go.’

The Matrix star said he never expected to be an action hero in his fifties and admits he had no idea what his career would look like at 54 back when he was starting out.

‘I haven’t really thought about my career future, or what was going to happen, until really recently,’ Reeves explained, adding that by ‘really recently’, he meant ‘probably my mid-40s’.

The actor is on the promo trail ahead of the release of John Wick: Chapter 3, and put himself through gruelling training with a Navy SEAL to reprise the role.

The darkly lit, action packed trailer for the film dropped earlier this year ahead of the Irish release of the movie on May 17.